Dust to Ash
by Biotomegami Lyanvis
Summary: Ino And Sakura have some issues to work out… but in the end, they still have each other.


**Title:** Dust to Ash  
**Author:** Biotomegami Lyanvis  
**Genre:** Romance/hurt/comfort  
**Pairings:** Ino X Sakura  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** Sadness, Female-Female relationship  
**Story status:** Single-chapter, Complete  
**Summary:** Ino And Sakura have some issues to work out… but in the end, they still have each other.

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I was sitting in my living room that Sunday morning, working on the broken clasp of one of my anklets, my favorite anklet. The most expensive piece of jewelry I owned, it was a silver chain studded with diamond chips given to me by an ex-girlfriend. But the price tag was hardly the reason I cherished it. She gave it to me last year for my twenty- fourth birthday and I considered it a sign of how she felt about me. I was in love with her and it was her way of saying she felt the same.

Frustrated, I tossed aside the anklet and the pair of needle nose pliers I was using to fix it. I needed to lift my spirits. My eyes found the small bong sitting on the coffee table and my mind thought about watching some Saturday morning cartoons stoned.

A tempting idea until I remembered the ex and I used to do that together. I looked at the windows and decided to let the exhibitionist in me take a shot. I opened the  
curtains wearing nothing but a pair of thong panties, giving an eyeful to anyone watching, but to my dismay even that voyeur Jiraiya in the apartment across the courtyard wasn't home.

I left the curtains open and sat down on the couch, picked up the anklet and the pliers and tried working on it some more. The one bit of consolation I had was that it broke in the throes of passion last night, and for the first time in four months and I'm proud to say I wasn't alone for it. I kept fumbling with the pliers trying to reach the piece that was bent.

It was tough because I was still swimming in a semi-hangover, trying to gather the troops in my head while keeping my eyes focused on the small clasp area. I heard keys rattling in the lock of my front door. It scared me at first, until I remembered I'd given Ino keys to the apartment before she left. By the time, I reached the door she had the deadbolt open and was working on the doorknob lock. I opened the door and yanked her halfway inside  
with her hand on the knob.

"Hel-lo!" she said.

"Sorry, thought I'd give you a hand."

"I'd prefer the tit," she said as she patted my left breast. I shut the door and took in the vision before me. Ino's breasts had swollen over the years into a nice C cup, though mine's were just shy of a B cup. While I have pink hair that I had curled this morning for the hell of it that came down to my shoulders, Ino's platinum blonde is now only chin length. The difference made me blink.

She wore a red halter-top that exposed her belly, giving me a nice view of her bellybutton and the silver waist chain sitting below it. A tight pair of black jeans and espadrilles finished the outfit, along with the silver toe ring on her right index toe, which was the first thing about her to catch my eye last night.

"Well?" I asked.

"I got some coffee," she said. I noticed the cardboard tray in her hand, with two cups from the coffee place down the block. Ino flashed her pearly white smile and walked over to the couch, setting the tray down on the coffee table.

I wasn't sure if she understood what I was asking, so I tried again. "How'd it go?"

"Fine." Her eyes darted to the table, where she noticed the anklet and picked it up. "I'm so sorry about this. I'll pay to have it repaired."

Okay, she was avoiding it. "Don't worry, that's not important. How'd it go?"

She took one cup out of the tray and took a sip. "It went fine," she said, her eyes looking at the cup instead of me. "I told her and that was that."

"And she's okay with it?"

She held the broken anklet in her hand and nodded.

"Absolutely."

"Are you okay?"

She looked up at me and smiled, but her eyes were sad and I saw tears in the corners. The smile faded from her face. "No." she croaked, looking back at the anklet. "She said it was okay and no problem and all that." Tears started running and her voice clogged. "Fuck. I saw it in her eyes. As soon as I said the words, her face just dropped. I mean, I knew she'd be shocked at first, but after that it was like, like she was disappointed." I sat next to her and pulled her to me. We hugged as she started to cry.

"I'm sorry." I said. And I really was, because I had brought all of this on her. Her lips met mine, and I gentled the kiss as much as possible. She took hiccupping breaths when we parted, and I rubbed her back soothingly. After Hinata and I had broken up, I'd considered going straight, but the blonde in my arms had changed that.

Hinata had been such a good girl before we'd met, the trophy daughter of the Hyuuga empire. She was the good little girl they wanted her to be, but had no backbone whatsoever.

I had changed that.

Then she married some rich guy for her family's sake, and I had lapsed into the shadows. I wouldn't be the second person in a relationship, I told her.

Holding Ino, I did not regret that decision.

"I wanted…" Ino's voice came though my thoughts, wavering, like the warble of a crystal goblet. Her lush mouth turned in a wry, sad smile. "I wanted her to understand. I have been like this for so long, and I just wished… It's stupid, anyway."

I was surprised when Ino pushed me back down onto the couch and latched her mouth to my breast. That adept tongue swirled around my nipple and I groaned, sliding my hand into her hair. Ino was surprisingly domineering, but I felt it's what she needed, at least for now. So I let her take control.

And my eyes met Jiraiya's across the courtyard, and I smiled. He wasn't even bothering to hide himself, just staring into our window. Groceries were all around him on the floor, and I spread my legs to show my thong covered pussy a little more as Ino started to stroke me.

If he's going to watch, might as well make it a show.

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A/N: This was another challenge fic, and I'm so proud of me- two stories in one day. Granted, neither of them are very long, but since it was the first one to get a vote on my homepage, I decided to go ahead and type it up. Now it is posted, and I will remove the option from my poll. I cannot remember who requested this and I am not surfing the hazards of my Inbox to find out, either. It's a recent request, so they will probably check back soon.


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